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Saturday, January 8, 2011

Cobalt Grille

Friday night found me at the Cobalt Grille in the Hilltop Shopping Center in Virginia Beach.

It's a very pretty place. The restaurant opens up to a beautiful, dimly lit, cozy lounge and bar area. The menu includes a tapas selection which is only served in the bar. I think my next visit will be in the bar but on Friday night I planned for a full dinner in the dining room.

The dining room is also cozy and dimly lit and would be perfect for a romantic evening. Or so I thought, until a family with two small children were seated next to me. Okay, it's a family place as well.

The meal began with an appetizer of beef and vegetable spring rolls

the rolls were fried and served with a sweet plum dipping sauce and mixed greens.

Although fried, they were not heavy and I thought it was a good way to begin the meal.

The first entree we ordered was the shrimp and scallops over fettucine

This dish was so colorful and festive. Almost too pretty to eat. The bowl was filled with three different types of tomatoes and garden peas along with the fettucine and topped with shaved romano cheese. The seafood was cooked perfectly and there were so many great flavors in this dish.

The second entree was the herb crusted salmon filet

the salmon was pan roasted and served over a bed of baby spinach and roma tomatoes, with a roasted tomato vinaigrette. The portion size was very generous and the fish tasted fresh and perfectly seasoned.

For dessert we shared a slice of espresso cheese cake

this was a little slice of heaven. The texture was smooth and velvety and before I knew it I had eaten more than my half.

Everything was good at the Cobalt Grille: food, service, location, atmoshere. However, for the price, I think I was expecting "great". Don't get me wrong, it definitely warrants a second visit but I'll probably try the tapas at the bar next time.